June 9
Events * 68 - Roman Emperor Nero commits suicide, imploring his secretary Epaphroditus to slit his throat to evade a Senate-imposed death by flogging. * 721 - Odo of Aquitaine defeats the Moors in the Battle of Toulouse. *1310 - Duccio's Maestà Altarpiece, a seminal artwork of the early Italian Renaissance, is unveiled and installed in the Siena Cathedral in Siena, Italy. *1534 - Jacques Cartier is the first European to discover the St. Lawrence River. *1650 - The Harvard Corporation, the more powerful of the two administrative boards of Harvard, is established. It was the first legal corporation in the Americas. *1667 - The Raid on the Medway by the Dutch fleet starts lasting for five days and resulting in a decisive victory of the Dutch over the English in the Second Anglo-Dutch War and a favourable peace for the Dutch. *1732 - James Oglethorpe is granted a royal charter for the colony of Georgia. *1772 - British vessel Gaspee is burned off of Rhode Island. *1790 - Philadelphia Spelling Book by John Barry becomes the first book to be copyrighted in the United States. *1815 - End of the Congress of Vienna: new European political situation is set. *1856 - 500 Mormons leave Iowa City and head west for Salt Lake City carrying all their possessions in two-wheeled handcarts. *1860 - Malaeska: The Indian Wife of the White Hunter becomes the first dime novel to be published. *1863 - American Civil War: Battle of Brandy Station, Virginia. *1909 - Alice Huyler Ramsey, a 22-year-old housewife and mother from Hackensack, New Jersey, became the first woman to drive across the United States. With three female companions, none of whom could drive a car, for fifty-nine days she drove a Maxwell automobile the 3,800 miles from Manhattan, New York, to San Francisco, California. *1915 - U.S. Secretary of State William Jennings Bryan resigns over a disagreement regarding the United States' handling of the [[Wikipedia:RMS Lusitania|RMS Lusitania]] sinking. *1922 - First ringing of the Harkness Memorial Chime at Yale University. *1923 - Bulgaria's military takes over the government in a coup. *1928 - Charles Kingsford Smith completes the first trans-Pacific flight in a Fokker Trimotor monoplane, the Southern Cross. *1930 - Chicago Tribune reporter Jake Lingle is killed at the Illinois Central train station during rush hour by the Leo Vincent Brothers, allegedly over a 100,000 USD gambling debt owed to Al Capone. *1934 - Donald Duck debuts in The Wise Little Hen. *1935 - Ho-Umezu Agreement: the Republic of China, under KMT administration, recognized Japanese occupations in Northeast China. *1944 - World War II: The Soviet Union invades East Karelia and the previously Finnish part of Karelia, since 1941 occupied by Finland. *1946 - King Bhumibol Adulyadej ascends to the throne of Thailand. He is currently the world's longest reigning monarch. *1953 - Flint-Worcester Tornadoes: A tornado spawned from the same storm system as the Flint tornado hits in Worcester killing 94. *1954 - McCarthyism: Joseph Welch, special counsel for the United States Army, lashes out at Senator Joseph McCarthy during hearings on whether Communism has infiltrated the Army. *1957 - First ascent of Broad Peak (12th highest mountain). *1958 - London Gatwick Airport, (LGW), Crawley, West Sussex, UK officially opened by HM Queen Elizabeth II. *1959 - The [[Wikipedia:USS George Washington (SSBN-598)|USS George Washington]] is launched as the first submarine to carry ballistic missiles. *1967 - Israel captures the Golan Heights from Syria during the Six-Day War. *1968 - President Lyndon B. Johnson declares a national day of mourning following the assassination of Senator Robert F. Kennedy. *1973 - Secretariat wins the Triple Crown. *1978 - The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints opens the priesthood to "all worthy men", ending a 148-year-old policy excluding black men. *1983 - Margaret Thatcher wins a second term by a landslide in the British General Election with a majority of 144 for her Conservative Party. Tony Blair is elected for the first time to Parliament. *1985 - Thomas Sutherland is kidnapped in Lebanon (he was not released until 1991). *1986 - The Rogers Commission releases its report on the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster. *1991 - The congress of the Italian party Proletarian Democracy decides to merge with the Communist Refoundation Party. *1999 - Kosovo War: Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and North Atlantic Treaty Organization sign a peace treaty. Births *1508 - Primož Trubar, Slovenian Protestant reformer (d. 1586) *1580 - Daniel Heinsius, Flemish scholar (d. 1655) *1588 - Johann Andreas Herbst, German composer (d. 1666) *1595 - King Wladislaus IV of Poland (d. 1648) *1640 - Leopold I (d. 1705) *1661 - Tsar Feodor III of Russia (d. 1682) *1672 - Tsar Peter I of Russia (d. 1725) *1686 - Andrei Osterman, Russian statesman (d. 1747) *1768 - Samuel Slater, American industrialist (d. 1835) *1810 - Otto Nicolai, German composer (d. 1849) *1812 - Johann Gottfried Galle, German astronomer (d. 1910) *1843 - Bertha von Suttner, Austrian novelist and pacifist, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize (d. 1914) *1845 - Gilbert Elliot-Murray-Kynynmound (d. 1914) *1849 - Michael Peter Ancher, Danish painter (d. 1927) *1851 - Charles Joseph Bonaparte, French politician (d. 1921) *1865 - Albéric Magnard, French composer (d. 1914) * 1865 - Carl Nielsen, Danish composer (d. 1931) *1875 - Henry Hallett Dale, English scientist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (d. 1968) *1882 - Bobby Kerr, Canadian sprinter (d. 1963) *1890 - Leslie Banks, British actor (d. 1952) *1891 - Cole Porter, American composer and lyricist (d. 1964) *1893 - Irish Meusel, American baseball player (d. 1963) *1898 - Luigi Fagioli, Italian race car driver (d. 1952) *1900 - Fred Waring, American bandleader (d. 1984) *1911 - George Webb, British actor (d. 1998) *1912 - Ingolf Dahl, American composer (d. 1970) *1915 - Les Paul, American guitarist *1916 - Robert McNamara, United States Secretary of Defense and president of the World Bank *1921 - Arthur Hertzberg, American Jewish scholar (d. 2006) *1922 - John Gillespie Magee, American poet and aviator (d. 1941) * 1922 - Fernand Seguin, French Canadian biochemist - Radio and TV animator (d. 1988) * 1922 - George Axelrod, American screenwriter, producer, playwright and film director (d. 2003) *1925 - Keith Laumer, science fiction writer (d. 1993) *1929 - Johnny Ace, American singer (d. 1954) *1930 - Barbara, French singer (d. 1997) *1931 - Jackie Mason, American comedian * 1931 - Joe Santos, American actor * 1931 - Bill Virdon, American baseball player and manager *1934 - Jackie Wilson, American singer (d. 1984) *1936 - Mick O'Dwyer, Gaelic footballer and manager *1937 - Harald Rosenthal, German biologist *1938 - Charles Wuorinen, American composer *1939 - Ileana Cotrubaş, Romanian soprano * 1939 - David Hobbs, English race car driver and personality on American TV * 1939 - Dick Vitale, American sportscaster * 1939 - Charles Webb, author *1940 - Shirley Muldowney, Racecar Driver *1941 - Jon Lord, organist in Deep Purple *1943 - Joe Haldeman, science fiction writer *1945 - Luis Ocaña, Spanish cyclist (d. 1994) * 1945 - Nike Wagner, German woman of the theater *1947 - Kiran Bedi, Indian Police Service Officer * 1947 - John Gurda, American historian *1948 - Gudrun Schyman, Swedish politician *1951 - Dave Parker, American baseball player * 1951 - James Newton Howard, American film composer *1952 - Uzi Hitman, Israeli singer *1954 - George Pérez, American comic book artist * 1954 - Gregory Maguire, American fantasy writer *1956 - Patricia Cornwell, American author *1961 - Michael J. Fox, Canadian-born actor * 1961 - Aaron Sorkin, American writer *1963 - Johnny Depp, American actor * 1963 - Gilad Atzmon, Israeli jazz musician and author *1964 - Gloria Reuben, Canadian actress *1967 - Dean Felber, American Guitarist *1968 - Niki Bakoyianni, Greek high jumper *1969 - Eric Wynalda, American soccer player *1971 - John McKeown, Scottish musician (Yummy Fur, 1990s) * 1971 - Rick Renstrom, American guitarist *1972 - Tomoe Hanba, Japanese voice actress *1973 - Tedy Bruschi, American football player * 1973 - Laura Ponte, Spanish model and royal * 1973 - Frederic Choffat, Swiss film director *1974 - Tim Shaw, British radio personality * 1974 - Randy Winn, American baseball player *1975 - Andrew Symonds, Australian cricketer * 1975 - Otto Addo, Ghanaian footballer * 1975 - Jeff Saturday, American football player *1977 - Roopa Mishra, Indian civil servant * 1977 - Amisha Patel, Indian actress * 1977 - Peja Stojakovic, Serbian basketball player *1978 - Shandi Finnessey, game hostess * 1978 - Matthew Bellamy, British musician (Muse) * 1978 - Miroslav Klose, German footballer *1980 - Mike Fontenot, American baseball player * 1980 - Lehlohonolo Seema, Lesotho footballer *1981 - Natalie Portman, Israeli-born actress *1982 - Christina Stürmer, Austrian singer *1983 - Alektra Blue, American porn star * 1983 - Danny Richar, Dominican baseball player * 1983 - Sean Taylor, American football player *1984 - Yulieski Gourriel, Cuban baseball player * 1984 - Kaleth Morales, Colombian singer and songwriter (d. 2005) * 1984 - Wesley Sneijder, Dutch footballer * 1984 - Masoud Shojaei, Iranian footballer *1986 - Adamo Ruggiero, Canadian actor * 1986 - Kary Ng, Hong Kong singer and actress *1993 - Danielle Chuchran, American actress Deaths * 62 - Claudia Octavia, wife of Nero (b. 40) * 68 - Nero, Roman Emperor (b. 37) * 373 - Ephrem the Syrian, Christian hymnodist * 597 - St. Columba, Christian missionary (b. 521) * 630 - King Shahrbaraz of Persia *1361 - Philippe de Vitry, French composer (b. 1291) *1563 - William Paget, English statesman (b. 1506) *1572 - Jeanne d'Albret, Queen of Navarre (b. 1528) *1583 - Thomas Radclyffe, Lord Lieutenant of Ireland *1656 - Thomas Tomkins, Welsh composer (b. 1572) *1716 - Banda Bahadur, Sikh military commander (executed) *1717 - Jeanne Marie Bouvier de la Motte Guyon, French mystic (b. 1648) *1834 - William Carey, one of the founders of the Baptist Missionary Society (b. 1761) *1870 - Charles Dickens, English author (b. 1812) *1875 - Gérard Paul Deshayes, French geologist (b. 1795) *1892 - Taiso Yoshitoshi, Woodblock print artist *1892 - William Grant Stairs, Canadian explorer (b. 1863) *1912 - Ion Luca Caragiale, Romanian writter (b. 1852) *1946 - Ananda Mahidol, Rama VIII, king of Thailand (b. 1925) *1952 - Adolf Busch, German composer (b. 1891) *1958 - Robert Donat, English actor (b. 1905) *1959 - Adolf Otto Reinhold Windaus, German chemist, Nobel laureate (b. 1876) *1961 - Camille Guérin, French scientist (b. 1872) *1964 - Max Aitken, Canadian-born business tycoon and politician (b. 1879) *1974 - Miguel Ángel Asturias, Guatemalan writer, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1899) *1979 - Cyclone Taylor, Canadian ice hockey player (b. 1884) *1981 - Allen Ludden, TV game show host (b. 1917) *1989 - George Wells Beadle, American geneticist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (b. 1903) * 1989 - Rashid Behbudov, Azerbaijani singer and actor (b. 1915) *1991 - Claudio Arrau, Chilean-born pianist (b. 1903) *1993 - Alexis Smith, Canadian actress (b. 1921) *1994 - Jan Tinbergen, Dutch economist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1903) *1997 - Stanley Knowles, Canadian politician (b. 1908) *2000 - Jacob Lawrence, American painter (b. 1917) *2004 - Rosey Brown, American football player (b. 1932) *2006 - Drafi Deutscher, German Schlager singer (b. 1946) Holidays and observances *Roman Empire paganism - third day of the Vestalia in honor of the goddess Vesta Liturgical feasts Catholicism * Saint Alexander Russia * Saint Columba (called Saint Columcille and Saint Colm, pronounced as KUHL-uhm) in Ireland, where he is honoured as one of the islands three patron saints) * Blessed Columba, abbot, confessor Scotland * Saint Diomedes * Saint Edmund, bishop of Canterbury, confessor (Translation day) England * Saint Efrem=Saint Ephraim, deacon, Doctor of the Church * Saint Liborius, bishop (of LeMans), confessor LeMans * Saint Primus and Felicianus, martyrs common * Blessed Richard, bishop of Andria, Apulia * Saint Vincent, deacon, martyr BLS * Saint Pelagia, virgin, martyr BLS * Blessed Diana d'Andalo Lutheranism *Aidan of Lindisfarne External links * BBC: On This Day * * On This Day in Canada ---- June 09